ACTION commits to putting people affected by drug-resistant TB at the heart of AMR response

Posted on Oct 13, 2017

Berlin, Germany (13 October) – At the Berlin “Call to Action” conference on anti-microbial resistance (AMR), the ACTION global health advocacy partnership joined governments, civil society, the private sector, and other stakeholders to make the following commitment:

ACTION is a partnership of locally rooted organizations around the world that advocate for equitable access to health.

Tuberculosis (TB) is the only major airborne drug-resistant infection. Last year, there were over 500,000 cases of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), which was responsible for nearly one-third of deaths from anti-microbial resistance (AMR).

ACTION welcomes the increased political attention to MDR-TB within the AMR agenda. We are committed to national, regional, and international advocacy to make ending MDR-TB the cornerstone of the AMR response. ACTION will:

Advocate to national governments to commit at the UN High-Level Meeting on TB in 2018 to scale up investments in, and create policy environments for, reaching all people affected by TB with effective treatment and expanding research and development of new tools to fight MDR-TB.

Continue working with G20 country governments, international organizations, civil society, parliamentarians, and affected communities to ensure political and financial support for incentivizing research into drugs, diagnostics, and vaccines for drug resistant infections, including MDR-TB, within the Argentinian G20 Presidency.

Support the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria to achieve its 6th replenishment target in 2019, recognizing its critical role in preventing the development of further drug-resistance.

“Drug-resistance is talked about as a terrifying future threat, but for the half a million people who get DR-TB every year the threat is all-too real and it is happening right now,” said Aaron Oxley, executive director of ACTION partner organization RESULTS UK, who made the pledge on behalf of ACTION. “Globally, we only cure 11 percent of people who get DR-TB, and that’s disgracefully low. I’m proud that ACTION is committing to ensuring these people are the highest priority in the world’s response to AMR.”